Football: Fox proves his worth: Orient fall in shoot-out

THE penalty for failure was as high in last night's FA Cup second-round replays as it was at Selhurst Park, Walsall and Leyton Orient both paying a heavy price for their inaccuracy when put on the spot.

Exeter's assistant manager, Peter Fox, proved his worth on the field against Orient at St James' Park, saving three penalties in the shoot-out before his captain, Jon Brown, settled the issue, 5-4 in the home team's favour. The prize was not to be sniffed at: a home date with Aston Villa.

Prior to this the sides had shared four goals in a fluctuating contest. Danny Carter gave the visitors a 51st-minute lead with a powerful header after Gary Bellamy had flicked on Gary Barnett's corner, only for Stuart Storer to level within three minutes as he fastened on to Andy Harris's through ball to drive past Paul Newell.

Orient nosed back in front four minutes into extra time when their central defender Warren Hackett scrambled the ball home after Exeter had failed to cope adequately with another Barnett corner. Again Alan Ball's side struck back swiftly, right-back Jason Minett teeing up Harris for a raking 25-yard effort that left Newell grasping thin air once more.

At Glanford Park, Scunthorpe and Walsall fired blanks at each other during normal time, although Chris Hope almost broke the deadlock in favour of the hosts when his extra-time header singed the crossbar. The sudden-death affair was far more dramatic, Scunthorpe edging home 7-6 to secure a third round trip to - Wimbledon.